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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Kopps II

June 14 & 16, 2012

The Kopps dinner menu is excellent but short so we resolved to return for breakfast. On weekdays they have a page-long menu, starting with muesli and rolls with jam, working up to baked beans, scrambled tofu, potatoes and pancakes then cheekily finishing with the amazing chocolate mousse.

Michael tried their biggest plate, the English breakfast (6.5€ ~AU$8.10). It still didn't seem a blow-out in portioning or price - a small scoop of scrambled tofu, two slices of smoky tofu 'bacon', a single sausage and sample of baked beans.

Though I hardly had a hard day's labour ahead of me, I ordered the farmer's breakfast (4.8€ ~AU$6), a skillet's-worth of potatoes, scrambled tofu, onions and shredded tofu 'bacon'.

While both breakfasts tasted great we wondered at the lack of toast, so ubiquitous at Aussie cafes. It turns out our waiter had just forgotten the bread basket, which she brought out with a laugh and an apology just as we were finishing. She kindly offered a compensatory bowl of mock egg salad for spreading and lots of invaluable advice on vegan eating around Berlin (especially urging us to visit Yoyo Foodworld).

We returned a couple of days later for Kopps' weekend brunch buffet (10.9€ ~AU$13.60 per person), where you can pile your plate high. The bain maries to the left house the same style of scrambled tofu and fried potatoes that we'd already enjoyed. But there were so many more new things to try!

I started with bread, herbed butter and mock-egg salad, 'meat' slices and salads. There were far more salads and fresh vegetables than I sampled - we were both particularly struck but the one pictured on the left, featuring peas, mock meat strips and the richest, tastiest vegan mayonnaise I've ever eaten.

There were multiple varieties of cereal, yoghurt and fruit, as well as rice pudding! The dairy replacements really were outstanding.

I saved room for waffles and mystery sweet blobs. Though it has roughly the dimensions of a scone, I believe the mystery sweet blob is a buttery yeasted pancake. Sitting on display for some time, the waffles and scones weren't at optimum texture but still quite delightful slathered with peanut butter and jam.

Melbourne turns out some damn fine breakfasts but I think that Kopps is putting it to shame, especially on the vegan front. I have never encountered better quality and variety, the mock dairy was superb and they charged us less than $14 for the all-you-can-eat privelege. It's a must-visit for veg*ns in Berlin and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to omnivores either.

Accessibility: Street tables are relatively accessible, but to get inside you have to make your way up a small flight of steps. Once you're in, it's spacious around the bar and a little more crowded at the tables. There's full table service, except for the self-serve weekend brunch buffet - this holds most food at a low-medium height with a few items at bar height.

Wow, those Germans sure know how to put on a good breakfast! I love the idea of vegan Fleischsalat. We have no idea what the mystery blob is, sorry! Not sure if it's something that Kopps made up themselves, or some kind of traditional Berlin thing. Due to regional culinary and language differences between towns in Germany, it's entirely possible that something common in Berlin would be totally unheard of in a town just an hour away. :)